Room ventilator



1956 v. M. CARLSON 2,772,332

ROOM VENTILATOR Filed July 16, 1954 VIOLA M. CAZLSON INVENTOR.

mm WOW United States Patent ROOM VENTILATOR Viola M. Carlson, Barrett,Minn.

Application July 16, 1954, Serial No. 443,879

' 1 Claim. (Cl. ZOO-88) This invention relates to a room ventilator andhas for its primary object to exhaust air from the interior of a roomand discharge it to the external atmosphere.

Another object is to automatically control the period of operation ofthe exhaust fan and to automatically disconnect it from the source ofpower after it has operated for a selected period of time.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this inventionwhich embodies among its features an electrically driven exhaust fanmounted in a window, a, source of electrical energy having one polethereof connected to one pole of the exhaust fan, a con tact levermounted to move in an arcuate path and electrically connected to theopposite pole of the fan, yielding means supported adjacent the contactlever and operatively connected thereto for holding said lever retractedin its arcuate path, a thermally distortable latch arm mounted adjacentthe contact lever and extending into the path of movement thereof forengaging the lever and holding it advanced in the arcuate path againstthe effort of the yielding means, a heating coil mounted adjacent thelatch arm and electrically connected to the latch arm and to theopposite pole of the source of electrical energy for heating the latcharm and causing it to distort and disengage the contact lever tointerrupt the flow of electrical energy through the fan and the coil,and remote controlled means mounted adjacent the contact lever formoving it against the effort of the yielding means and into engagementwith the latch arm.

Other features include electromagnetic means mounted adjacent thecontact lever for moving it against the eifort of the spring andadvancing it into latching engagement with the latch arm, one terminalof the electromagnet being connected to one pole of the source ofelectrical energy, and the opposite terminal of the electromagnet beingconnected to the opopsite pole of the source of electrical energythrough a remotely located push button switch.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a view of a wall showing a window therein with this improvedfan mounted in the window and connected to a source of electrical energywith the remote control means spaced from the window; and

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view through the switch box forcontrolling the fan.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a room wall is provided with aconventional window in which is mounted a conventional electricallydriven fan 12 having conventional extensible side wings 14 for closingthe space between the fan and the stiles of the window, it beingunderstood that the unit is adapted to rest on the window sill and to beengaged at its top by the lower sash of the window. The wall in whichthe window 10 is located is equipped with a conventional electricaloutlet 16 which may be located adjacent the base board of the room or inany other convenient location near the window so that the electricalconnections with the fan may be connected to the outlet 16. Thestructure so far 2,772,332 Patented Nov. 2'7, 1956 "ice described isconventional and forms no part of this in-.

vention except in conjunction therewith.

Mounted at any suitable location adjacent the fan 12 is an electricalswitch unit designated generally 18 comprising a housing 20 having anend wall provided with vertically spaced insulated openings 22. Mountedon the opposite end wall of the housing 24} within the interior thereofand electrically isolated therefrom by a suitable insulator 24 is ahorizontal contact lever 26 which is adapted to move in an arcuate pathwithin the housing. A retractile coil spring 28 is stretched between thecontact lever 26 and the top wall of the housing for retracting saidlever upwardly. The spring 28 is connected to an eye 30 carried by butelectrically isolated from the housing 20 by a suitable nonconductingelement 32. The contact lever 26 is electrically connected to one sideof the fan motor 34 by a conductor 36, while the opposite side of thefan motor 34 is connected to one side of the electrical outlet 16 bymeans of a conductor 33.

Mounted on the bottom wall of the housing 29 adjacent the free end ofthe contact lever 26 and extending into the arcuate path of movementthereof is a vertical thermally distortable latch arm 42 which isinsulated from the housing 20. A heating coil 44 is mounted around thethermally deformable latch arm 42 and is connected at one end to thelatch arm, while the opposite end is connected to a conductor 46 whichleads to the side of the outlet 16 remote from that connected to theconductor 38. It will thus be seen that when the contact lever 26 isdepressed to engage the lateral projection on the upper end of latch arm42, electrical energy will flow from the source to which the conductor46 is connected, through the heating coil 44 and thence through thelatch arm to the contact lever 26 through the conductor 36 to the fanmotor 34 and thus complete an electrical circuit through said fan motorduring the period that the latch arm 42 remains in engagement with thecontact lever 26.

In order to move the contact lever against the efiort of the spring 28and into engagement with the latch arm 42, a vertical electromagnet 48is mounted on the bottom wall of the housing 20 beneath the contactlever 26 which has an armature 50 which is adapted to be attracteddownwardly by the electromagnet 43 when the latter is energized. Oneterminal of the electromagnet is connected through a conductor 52 to theconductor 38, while the opposite terminal of the electromagnet 48 isconnected through a conductor 54 with one terminal 56 of a push buttonswitch 58, the opposite terminal of which is connected through aconductor to the conductor 46. It will thus be seen that when the pushbutton switch 58 is closed, the electromagnet 48 will be energized tomove the contact lever into engagement with the latch arm 42 beneath theprojection 48 and thereby cause the fan motor 34 to be energized. Theenergization of the fan motor, of course, will cause the heating coil tobe energized and after it has attained a predetermined temperature, thethermally distortable latch arm will move outwardly, as suggested inFigure 2, so as to disengage the latch arm projection 40 from thecontact lever and permit the spring 28 to disengage the contact arm 26from beneath the latch arm projection in) and thereby break the.circuitthrough the fan motor 34 and coil 44. Obviously, the breaking of thecircuit through the coil 44 will cause it to cool and permit thethermally distortable latch arm 42 to return to its initial position inwhich the projection 40 extends into the arcuate path through which thecontact lever 26 moves.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changesin the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

In a device of the character described, a support, a

vertical electroinagnet mounted on saidsupport, a vertical thermallydistortable and insulated latch arm positioned alongside of saidelectromagnet, said latch arm having an upper end provided with alater-a l projection directed toward said electromagnetand a lower endsecured to said support, an insulated horizontal contact lever overlyingand spaced above said electroinagnet and having an armature thereon,said'contact lever having-an end pivoted on said support and providingfor upward and downward swinging of said contact lever relative to theelectromagnet and said latch arm, said contact lever having a free endnormally securably and releasably e11- gaged under the latch armprojection in a depressed position of the contact lever, spring meansacting between References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,328,482, Baker Ian. '20, 1920 2,034,763 Landan Mar. 24, 19362,326,957 Maguire Aug. 17, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 106,323 SwitzerlandSept. 16, 1924

